Don Juan

I enjoyed this movie very much, especially because I recognized bits of it! My favorite movie of all time, _Start the Revolution Without Me_, has a brilliant opening sequence using snippets of old movies--and many of them, I discovered, are from this film.

But even without the especial glee of recognizing scenes, this is a thoroughly enjoyable film for those who appreciate swashbuckling costume drama. Or melodrama. There are terrific confrontations, fights, and an awesome chase scene on horseback. There is also oodles of passion and ca-noodling...and shapely John Barrymore showing off his shape in a costume that today's actors wouldn't be caught dead in, I bet.

Yes, this was the first movie made with a synchronised music score (and some sound effects), but it is much more that that! It is wondrous and spectacular entertainment with brilliant performances and magical camerawork. Like all great silent films there are very few titles because the actors tell the story without words. And what actors they are! John Barrymore is dashing as Don Juan, but he also gives the man great emotional depth - and the scene where he transforms his face while masquerading as a villain reveals not just talent but genius! Remember how he turned from Jekyll to Hyde with no make-up in the 1920 film? He does a similar thing here.

But where would Don Juan be without beautiful women? And here we have three of the most beautiful women ever to grace the scene. Estelle Taylor as Lucrezia Borgia - beautiful but deadly. Mary Astor - bewitchingly young and charmingly innocent. Myrna Loy - exotic and evil, and exquisite!

And the camerawork is superlative. The sword fight and the horseback battle are two of the most excitingly filmed sequences I have ever seen. And the music score is excellent.

This is a wonderful movie.

And who was that incredible actor playing the jealous husband who goes mad? Never seen such brilliant mad acting!

In my most humble of opinions, this is one of the greatest silent movies ever made. The story line, the sets, (the set designer deserves special credit) the photography, the rapid pace and hesitation when called for, everything combined made for and hour and a half of pure enjoyment. And it was so enjoyable to see one our great talents at his best. There will never be another John Barrymore. And in this film there was something not too often seen in silent film. There was just not movement, there was ACTING. GREAT ACTING. And wait for the chase scene. Absolutely terrific effects. I recommend this film to anyone who is a real fan of films, silent or sound. And as an added thought, there was that beautiful musical score played so dramatically by the New York Philharmonic.

Although John Barrymore was 44 when he played the role of Tirso DeMolina's famous libertine, the soft focus photography enabled to look years younger and really do a convincing job as the most famous seducer in fiction. In fact Barrymore plays two roles, the dashing cavalier Don Juan and his stern father who was cuckolded by his wife and imparted some cynical views on women to his young son in a prologue.

When the main action of the film gets going it takes place in Rome when the Borgias were running things. Cesare Borgia played by Warner Oland and his evil sister Lucretia who has Estelle Taylor, then Mrs. Jack Dempsey playing her part. They're quite a pair, cruel and sadistic, and they've got a cousin played by Montagu Love who rivals Don Juan in the seducing department.

Barrymore is ostensibly in Rome as a student, but he's way too busy with his female conquests for any academics. He and Love have their eyes on the same woman, Mary Astor, who is royalty herself, related to the Orsinis who the Borgias have kicked out of power. That rivalry is what fuels the plot of this film.

Director Alan Crosland was obviously influenced by Cecil B. DeMille in directing this film. The sumptuous sets and even more the scenes of debauchery could be found in many a DeMille spectacle. And we don't get DeMille's moralizing with the film either.

As for Barrymore he plays the part with the dash and verve of Douglas Fairbanks who later got to play Don Juan, but as a much older man in Faribanks's final film during the sound era. Note the dueling sequence with Love. Warner Brothers for whom this film was produced used some of the same bits in their sound version of The Adventures Of Don Juan with Errol Flynn.

There is also a nice bit by Willard Louis as Barrymore's lackey, Pedrillo. Sad that he would die the same year as this film came out. He was quite amusing in the role.

Still it's Barrymore's show and quite a show it is. Don Juan is a good chance to see a young John Barrymore at the zenith of his acting talent.

This is a fun film. It has a charismatic lead in John Barrymore, a deliciously evil villains in Estelle Taylor and Montagu Love, and a beautiful young Mary Astor as the ingénue who cures Don Juan of his skirt chasing ways. There's lots of ardent love scenes and swashbuckling action a la Douglas Fairbanks.

The sets and costumes are strange, a bizarre mix of 16th century fashion and art deco. The women sport kiss curls and cupid bow mouths. Modern viewers unused to a thing known as historical context will no doubt laugh at the heavily made up men (especially Don Juan's sidekick; he seems to be wearing more lipstick than Estelle Taylor.) All in all, a good time for silent film fans.